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Topic: Successful change of title screen (Read 1746 times)

I downloaded Dan Autery's TITLE.EXE, and followed the directions in the doc. I made a 320x200, 256-colour PCX file, and loaded it up in this tool, where it displayed properly, and I chose the command to use that image for title image one. It saved a new TITLE.TLB, as expected. I put that TITLE.TLB into the design's .dsn folder, and applied the design with UAShell.

When I loaded up the game, instead of the screen it showed before, it now showed a brief glitch and then a black screen, while the music played as before.

The first title image is never seen unless one or more of the following title images uses transparency. I expect this is your only problem.

I use TOOLBOX, a later program, to make new title sequences. It creates separate drop-in *.tlbs for (among other art replacements) each individual title image.

I usually make my first title image entirely black, using the same palette order as the Frame and Always palettes I will use the mod. And I don't use transparency in any title image.

A helpful proggie is Dan Autery's SHOW. Very easy to use, and with it, you can look at the art contained in any UA *.tlb. You can see how UA's default titles were created and examine and compare new hacked art.

Okay, I'll see if it works with the image as a different number. I used number 1 because the instructions said that the palette didn't matter for that image, and that the others use restricted palettes.

Titles can have cycling colors and images (like words) that impose themselves on others. The first title has 256 usable colors. The others have 224. There is a bug that can occur if you use the first 32 palettes for color and someone presses escape to exit the titles. It can alter the colors of your design from then on.

So what should I do with the first 32 palette slots to prevent that? Make them magenta?

The first row, 0-15, I make identical to the Always palette I will be using in the mod the new title will be for, and 16-31 I make identical to its Frame palette. Then, as I say, I just make the whole image black. This will prevent the bug.

The reason UA's art team did their's the way they did, was to create a backdrop of their frame set with a stone-like background, which they could then use following images (with transparencies) as overlays. So, you can see some visual elements remaining unchanged throughout their title sequence. It shaved some size off of their Title.tlb, and they didn't have to duplicate their frame motif for each image. It's easier not to do it their way, tho.

Okay, then I suppose I'll need to use SHOW to find out what the palette is for the ALWAYS and FRAME files. I've tried before to find a utility to let me convert one of the FRUA files into PCXs that I can edit, but everything I've found up until now has only gone the other direction.

Okay, then I suppose I'll need to use SHOW to find out what the palette is for the ALWAYS and FRAME files. I've tried before to find a utility to let me convert one of the FRUA files into PCXs that I can edit, but everything I've found up until now has only gone the other direction.

SHOW has the ability to create *.pcx versions of the *.tlb image you're viewing.

TLB2PCX was created specifically to do such conversions.

TLButil2 (TLB Utilities) will also do it, but the proceedure is a little more complicated.

Okay, I've used SHOW to make PCXs out of the ALWAYS and FRAME files to their palettes. Now I just need to know which slots are which number. Looking at this screenshot of the colour table in Photoshop, the rows on the bottom are the ones that have actual colours in them, except for the one on top. Are the ones at the bottom the ones numbered 1-16?

Okay, I've used SHOW to make PCXs out of the ALWAYS and FRAME files to their palettes. Now I just need to know which slots are which number. Looking at this screenshot of the colour table in Photoshop, the rows on the bottom are the ones that have actual colours in them, except for the one on top. Are the ones at the bottom the ones numbered 1-16?

PaintShopPro keeps its palette display opposite yours, apparently.

Since this is an Always palette, then the bottom row must be color slots 0-15 (PSP starts its numbering at zero, at any rate). That row is considered the Always palette. Black would be 0 and white would be 15. The pale green at slot 255 is used as the transparency slot, no matter what color is put there.

Okay, I've finally gotten the title screen and the cursors to play nicely with each other, and corrected the offset for the cursors, and made them aligned with the actual hotspot on the screen, within 1 pixel of error. It required me to use far less of the available space for the cursor art. The arrow isn't very pretty, but it does the job, and I prefer it over the shield. The attached file shows where you have to position things to make the two cursors line up. The finger is pointing directly to the top of the hotspot. Any higher, and it'll be pointing above the buttons despite being able to click them.

Also attached the new Pool of Radiance title screen I constructed from parts of the Amiga version of the game.

Okay, I've finally gotten the title screen and the cursors to play nicely with each other, and corrected the offset for the cursors, and made them aligned with the actual hotspot on the screen, within 1 pixel of error. It required me to use far less of the available space for the cursor art. The arrow isn't very pretty, but it does the job, and I prefer it over the shield. The attached file shows where you have to position things to make the two cursors line up. The finger is pointing directly to the top of the hotspot. Any higher, and it'll be pointing above the buttons despite being able to click them.

Yep, I figured the discrepancy was pretty big. I reckon the original art team wanted the shield to cover around a central point whereas their sword would point right up to that same spot -- so the end of the sword (coming to the edge of its box) would only be about the middle of the shield area, requiring it to be placed differently on the screen display.